Lucky Finds
My mom likes to say I’m the luckiest person she knows.
I’ve never bought a lottery tickets, so I can’t prove this theory absolutely, but she does have a point.
Mostly, I just seem to very adept at getting smoking deals on stuff (this is an excellent trait when you have an income of approximately $5 a month and MBA tuition of approximately $5 million a semester).
A few recent smoking deals:
We really wanted a bed for our guestroom/my office so that when people came to visit, they wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor or an air mattress or the couch. Also, the room looked dumb because it’s enormous and having just my small desk against one wall? Ridiculous looking. But paying at the very least $200 for a bed that would be slept in only a few times a year? Not our most sound financial choice. Then someone from church emailed that they were having a garage sale, and when we went over to check it out, it turned out they had a queen size mattress, box spring and frame. “Does $10 sound okay?” they asked? Bart tried out the mattress (Ella, who was watching from the car, said, “Why is Dad taking a nap on that driveway?”), deemed it good, and then the garage sale hosts handed Bart their truck keys so Bart could bring it back to our house. Happy days indeed.
Next? The guest room also needed some curtains, because, oddly, this house has blinds on only three windows (only one of which is a bedroom). Nothing says, “Welcome to our home” like a guest bedroom with giant uncovered windows. But again. Curtains? Expensive. Then I got an email from someone from church (apparently people from church are just dying to give me free stuff? I don’t ask questions. I just try to reply really super fast before it’s gone) with four Pottery Barn panel curtains. The perfect color for our bedroom (which meant we could take the white curtains in our bedroom and put them in the guest room). A quick trip to pick them up and voila! Curtains in the guest room. I’m certain my parents will appreciate them this weekend when they come to visit.
Oh how I love a good deal. The mattress and curtains are pretty awesome, and you can't beat free! This summer I bought two necklaces for a penny each at Francesca's and it was quite a rush.
Btw, I love your braid!
Haha! That's awesome! I love a bargain!
You need to check out freecycle! I got perfectly good picture frames off there, and another set that I painted to match my kids room and framed some of their artwork. Last spring, someone gave me a brand new composter that was originally 30 dollars because she wasn't using it. I ended up not having time to figure out composting in the city, so I turned around and freecycled it to someone else. Plus it's a great way to get rid of stuff you don't need but still has use in it. It's amazing what people will give away just to get it out of their house.
Holy smokes! Was it an error on their part?! That's awesome. I'm a huuuuuuge bargain hunter. I spent $37 the other day on 3 maternity tops, 2 pairs of overall for babe, 1 full outfit for him, a plaid shirt, a blazer, a pair of baby GAP shoes, a puzzle, and a tub toy at a consignment shop. Love a good deal!
Ooh and Pottery Barn curtains are SPENDY. I love a bargain.
I know! Obviously the white curtains in our room they replaced were from IKEA.
This is kinda of an awesome story! Way to go, Janssen!
Wow, you really are lucky. We got a bed frame, box spring, mattress, and armoire for jilly's room for $100 and I thought that was a steal! But $10 definitely beats my deal. Thank goodness for church friends, huh?
SWEET!!!!
I love these kinds of deals. Just got a dresser for the boys room in the same fashion as your curtains. Full on real wood (this baby was heavy) and the perfect sized drawers for little people. Complete awesomeness. period.
Oh I love a good deal, but never EVER find them. A friend of mine is the master of deals, and I have to take her with me if I have any hope of spending anything less than full price.
yay, i love your blog posts, they are filled with awesome humour 🙂 can't wait to see pics of your guest bedroom when you have got it all se up
Ummmm … awesome! Although I think I like the mattress and curtains stories better since I have the nesting bug, but I'm not really doing anything about it because like you said … house stuff is $$$!
You are darling. Love the outfit, your story (hooray for good deals!), and your writing.
This post totally made me smile. You are so funny! 🙂 congrats on all the awesome deals!
What! you are totally so lucky. Please rub off some of your luck to me, I need that right now. 🙁
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who loves a great deal! Sometimes in the "style world" I feel inadequate sharing my good finds (hand-me-downs, garage sales, free stuff, clearance, etc) because so many bloggers are like, "Get the look for only $300!" I love your blog and the fact that you are real! I'm a momma too (ages 2 & 5) and an avid book reader (English teacher). I can so relate!